L2J-409
by Kelly Mullins
Summary: SG-1 gets caught up in the middle of a religious crisis...


Title: L2J-409  
Author: Kelly Mullins  
E-mail:musicgrl72@myexcel.com  
Web: http://www.geocities.com/musicgrl72/kellyf.html   
Terms: http://www.dreamwater.com/musicgrl72/l2j409.html  
Rating: M or PG13 what ever you want to consider it.  
Spoilers: Solitudes, 100 Days, D&C, Secrets  
Sequel: Thalma to follow   
Archive: Take it! I'd like to know where it's going but I don't have to.  
Keywords: Sam/Jack Romance, Daniel/Janet Romance, Angst   
Summary: SG-1 gets caught up in the middle of a religious crisis... or SO that's where gods come from.  
Authors' note: I LOVE e-mail and whether good of bad I will respond. Flames are used to power Teal'c's staff weapon.   
Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me. "Fan fiction is for people with original ideas just not original characters."   
  
L2J-409   
  
The Stargate on L2J-409 opened to the amazement of the highly decorated natives standing around worshipping at the altars that spotted the barren plain.  
"It's a sign!" The high priest yelled as the UAV went flying over all of their heads.  
  
24 Hours Later...  
"SG-1 you have a go, see you in three days." General George Hammond said receiving a nod from Colonel Jack O'Neill who proceeded throughout the 'Gate.  
"Well campers our friends from yesterday don't seem to be anywhere in sight."  
"They may have gone into hiding when the UAV came through." Carter suggested.  
"Or they went to get their weapons." Daniel interjected rather pessimistically.  
"Lets head out, Teal'c watch our 6. Everybody look out." The team continued until nightfall that came sooner and faster than the four had expected.  
"Colonel, I don't have the faintest clue as to where those people got to, we haven't seen any signs of non-animal life."  
"Carter we could be going in the wrong direction, these could be more of those sacred grounds that no one's supposed to be on."  
"Or there's always alien abduction."  
"Uh Daniel, they're all aliens, so kidnapping each other would be considered alien abduction to us."  
"Carter, shut up, you're confusing Teal'c." O'Neill calls to her over their little encampment.  
"Is it not indeed you who is confused?"  
  
The next day they set off for the 'Gate, no one expected the scene of utter chaos that was playing out in close vicinity to the Stargate.  
"Ah," A man spotted them. "Everyone may now stop, here they are." Immediately everyone ceased their actions and stood in an orderly fashion behind the man that had spoken. "Welcome to Thalma, we were not expecting you so soon, we are sorry we were not here to greet you when you arrived."  
"Uh yeah, who are you?"  
"I am high priest Toran, and you, you have come to bear Maja'ra, correct?" He had spoken directly to Carter.  
"Maja'ra? I don't know what that is."  
"Maja'ra is like you, hair of silver, eyes the color of the sky. Toran'ra is like me- skin like soil and eyes like midnight."  
"You mean Maja'ra is a person? I'm supposed to have a child?"  
High Priest Toran refused to divulge any more information until they had reached the village of Abadah. He led the way, which was in the opposite direction SG-1 had headed in the previous day with SG-1 following closely with the other 'natives' following cautiously behind.  
"Carter why is it you always get the big welcomes?" O'Neill whispered to her as Daniel futilely questioned Toran.  
"I don't know Sir, I never knew that being a woman would rustle so many feathers on other planets."  
"Oh I don't know Carter, he seemed pretty thrilled that you're a woman, almost as if he was expecting you."  
"I sure hope not, these things never seem to turn out well." She murmured as they came to the outskirts of Abadah. There were children running everywhere skipping along happily or toted by smiling men and women.  
"Well it seems innocent enough, I wonder where everyone's headed."  
"They are on their way to welcome their God, he is now ready to receive his subjects."  
"Why do I not like the sound of that?" O'Neill whispered to Carter as they were lead through the town. "Whoa... Daniel?" The Colonel asked as they joined the crowd of people all vying for a view of their god.  
"Well Jack it appears that he's an infant."  
"I know that, is there any cultural significance to that of is it just their luck?"  
"Oh I'm sure there some significance to it but whatever it is I'll have to find out from Toran and he doesn't seem to feel like talking right now."  
"So, Toran, you feel like explaining what's going on now?"  
"Please wait, the divine one Toran'ra will not be long."  
"Oh for cryin' out loud, we don't have time to wait around for Toran'ra or whatever his name is to do whatever." At his outburst 'Toran'ra' burst into a high-pitched squeal and an utter silence went over the crowd gathered. "Uh sorry?"  
"Sov'vo Guof'k will tell you all you need to know." Toran sighed as he waved a tall gentle looking man over.  
"Please follow me." He led them into one of the many large highly decorated buildings. Once inside they were led through the massive structure into a room with pillows and rugs scattered throughout, the tapestries on the wall showed depictions of Anubis-like dogs guarding Buddha-like characters as they mediated.  
"Well that's uh...new."  
"That was completed only days ago for the family of the new Maja'ra."  
"Well Sov'vo that's our problem, who exactly is Maja'ra?"  
"Maja'ra is the holy companion to Toran'ra, she is ruler in her own right of course, dominant over him in many areas." He instructed everyone to take a seat and called over a young man who had been sitting silently in the corner of the room-awaiting acknowledgement. "This is Yuatyu Qollarz, he will be your servant, if he does anything to upset you please inform Cofgut Qollarz immediately, she is his mother." The boy stood stone still doing a better imitation of Teal'c than Teal'c was actually able to do, he gave no sign that he knew they were discussing him. "Yuatyu, ta henket please."  
"Huh?"   
"It's uh bread and beer Jack, that was ancient Egyptian."  
"Oh uh, okay...anybody see any signs of Goa'ulds yet?"   
"Sov'vo, are there any people here who deem who will be your 'gods'?"  
"The High Priests inspect each child when they are born to assure that they are the next chosen ones."  
"These guy's eyes don't happen to glow do they? Or maybe they've got friends that come around whose eyes glow?" O'Neill interjected into Daniel's questioning.  
"No...the only remote possibility is written in our history, the people came through the Chapa'ai just as you did, but they left shortly after."  
"They didn't take any of your people with them?"  
"It was not written, but as I said it was a very long time ago."  
"Could we please get back to the subject of Maja'ra please?"  
"She will be born in three seasons ten days."  
"Exactly how long is a season?"  
"92 days. It has been decreed and it is now out of all of our hands."  
"Toran said that I'm supposed to bear this Maja'ra."  
"Yes, Maja'ra stated before her death when you would come to us and when she would be reborn."  
"Carter's not going to be hanging around bearing children and all that, she's leaving with us."  
"I do not believe Toran will allow you to leave." Yuatyu returned pouring glasses of the thick, freshly brewed beverage and placing a plate with several loaves of bread in the center of the group before retreating to his corner.  
"You can tell Toran Carter'll be leaving with us."  
"You do not understand, you too Colonel will not be allowed to depart, of course Dr. Jackson and Mr. Teal'c will be free to go."  
"Wait a minute, I'm supposed to be the father of Carter's child? That won't happen... besides it's against regulations."  
"You will have to speak with Toran about matters any further." Before anyone could protest he was out of the room and soon out of the building. Teal'c and O'Neill ran through the building to find all exits locked and big, bulky guards outside all of the windows.  
"Well gee that was smart, what is up with all of these messed up religions"  
"Jack, I don't think it is the religion's problem- these people are frantic, it seems to me that their goddess, Maja'ra, died before she could assure a successor. I mean think about it, their entire lives these people have had two living breathing gods to look to for everything they needed, now they only have one and no one is sure they will be able to reassure the other's rebirth."  
"I don't follow."  
"Many religions that believe in reincarnation believe that the soul can only remain in limbo for a certain amount of time before it's lost- just think about it Jack, something that has been the center of your life and the lives of everyone before you just disappearing one day. There could be utter chaos... something akin to the beginning of the end of the world."  
"And you're saying that if Carter and I had a kid we'd solve all this world's problems? Can't they have their own kids and call 'em gods?"  
"When we were coming here there weren't any blondes. In the past they probably bred for Toran'ra's characteristics, considering you're usually more likely to have a girl than a boy, and they lost the ability to regularly produce blondes... it's a recessive trait... every couple of generations a blonde might turn up but if it was male it would be useless to serve their needs." Carter theorized out loud surprising everyone.  
"Don't worry Major, no need to start sounding like Daniel, we're going to get out of this."  
"Thank you Sir, I just don't understand how this Maja'ra that died foretold our coming, we didn't even know we were coming until a couple of days ago."  
"Good guess maybe?"  
"The sun is setting." Teal'c spoke for the first time since their entrapment.  
"Well the days certainly are shorter here on L2J-409." Jack commented sarcastically.  
"Well at least the nights are longer." Everyone just stared at Daniel. "More sleep?"  
"Yeah... speaking of sleep, we found two 'bedrooms' I use the term loosely- just thickly padded rugs with blankets and plenty of these big fluffy pillows. It seems that we also have indoor plumbing with is definitely a plus."  
"It is unlikely Toran will come to us after dark." Teal'c stated looking out the window as Yuatyu ran around lighting lamps. "We should all rest so we may be able to free ourselves tomorrow."  
"Sleeping arrangements?" Daniel questioned.  
"The rooms are pretty big, I'm sure the four of us could arrange something in one of them."  
  
Daniel had been right, the nights were longer, and when they awoke it was still black beyond the windows. Yuatyu stood from his spot in the corner of their bedroom and lit a lamp the second they showed signs of stirring. "Do you require anything Sir?" He asked O'Neill who happened to be the first person to sit up. "Food, henket, assistance dressing?"  
"No, why don't you go take a nap or something, and where the hell are our weapons?"  
"I'm sorry Sir, hemef Toran'ra does not wish for there to be any uncalled for violence." With that Yuatyu left the room to sit outside the door.  
"Great, now not only do we get locked in these lovely accommodations but it seems we have no means of really fighting our way out."  
"I'm sure we'll be able to get everything sorted out once we meet with Toran." Daniel stated as he tore open something that was supposed to be chicken but tasted suspiciously like Macaroni and cheese.  
"If we can't get this worked out then you and Teal'c go through the 'gate and get reinforcements." As soon as the sun came up Toran joined SG-1 in the sitting room they had occupied.  
"Could you please tell those nice gentlemen out there to let us go?"  
"I'm sorry Colonel, but as Sov'vo told you, you may not leave."  
"If we don't report back in eight hours our people will send another team for us, big smelly marine types."  
"Dr. Jackson and Teal'c may go, but of course you and Major Carter will stay."  
"And if we refuse to produce a child?"  
"You will be put to death for refusing to serve your gods."  
"They're not our gods."  
"I invite you not to promote your views among the people here, they are very devoted."  
"So, you aren't exactly giving us much of a choice in this."  
"I have said all I can, it is now the time for Dr. Jackson and Teal'c to depart, they will be escorted back to the Chapa'ai."  
"Don't worry guys, we'll bring SG-3 back through with us, you'll get out of here." Daniel said as Toran instructed several guards to take the two members of SG-1 back to where they had come from. Soon they were pulled from the building- protesting loudly of course.  
"Major, what's on your mind? Surely you don't doubt in the General's ability to find us some way out of this."  
"No Sir, I don't, it's just that Toran was way too comfortable about sending two people back to their own planet where they would be able to warn them of our internment and send reinforcements...we even threatened him with it."  
"Toran seems to be to be just a little too arrogant, reminds me of a Tok'ra...just not Dad." They shared a smile.  
"Why can't any other team get into as much trouble as we do?"  
"Because we're SG-1...number one in /every/ way."  
"Number one in injuries."  
"Number one in all of Doc Fraiser's experiments."  
"Number one in Alien allies."  
"Number one in Alien enemies." He countered grinning evilly. They went on in the same fashion for some time naming everything SG-1 was 'Number one' in until Toran returned with several woman and men.  
"Hello, good to find you well. It is now time for you to bathe, it is a new day after all."  
"You may have missed our point earlier, but we're not going along with this."  
"Then you're condemning your selves to death." He stated and turned to leave.  
"Wait, Toran, what are we supposed to do? What if we are unable to produce a child? Or if it comes out male or with dark hair?"  
"Then you will be free to return to your home."  
"Carter, what the hell are you doing?"   
"Hold on a minute Sir," She shushed him. "Fine I'll go along with it."  
"Major." O'Neill warned. She turned to him, her eyes silently pleading.  
"Okay, fine, I'll do it."  
"Wonderful, the gods smile on you. Now both of you must bathe before experiencing reschut, and ta henket should also be consumed. I will have some other, more tasteful foods brought to your room."  
"Where's Daniel when I need him? And what exactly does reschut mean?"  
"Do you know the word pleasure?" Yuatyu asked coming alive once Toran had gleefully departed.  
"Yes."  
"Well the word reschut is used to express extreme pleasure."  
"Oh."  
"Colonel O'Neill, your bathing attendants are Tappu, A'Rueff, and Zoro." He was obviously higher up on the political food chain than the three much older men because they respectfully bowed to him before pulling O'Neill out of the room with them. "Major Carter, your attendants are Sokj, Holorgqu, and Kotgut."  
Soon both Carter and O'Neill had been thoroughly cleansed of the dirt and grime that had built up over the previous two days. Soon they were shoved into the bedroom SG-1 had shared to be met with Yuatyu sitting in wait.  
"I will leave momentarily, but first I must inform you that you will remain in this room for nine days, at which time if major Carter is not with child and no attempts have been made you will both be put to death."  
He turned and soon there were sounds of the door being locked.  
"Nice outfit Carter." O'Neill stated at her Egyptian style, gauzy, semi-see through dress.  
"I should say the same thing to you Sir." His clothing was very much like hers just longer and not as form fitting.  
"So Major, want to tell me why you agreed to this?"  
"I brought us nine more days. Or I bought the SGC nine more days to get us out of here. Now all we have to do is wait... and maybe eat... do you think the food is okay to eat?"  
"I really don't think they'd poison the people who are supposed to be responsible for the rebirth of one of their gods." He said joining her in the consumption of the varied selection of fruits, vegetables, meats, bread, and of course beer.  
They spent a good part of the day sampling all of the foods and applying 'tastes like labels' to all of them as they were consumed. As the sun started to set and the room began to darken it was obvious Yuatyu wasn't going to be coming in to light any lamps, after only a small amount of searching they were able to locate the starter they had seen used earlier.  
"Carter, any idea how to work this thing?"  
"Not the foggiest Sir, but..." She moved across the room and bent over something. "I do have a hidden secret." She moved her hand and the room around her lit up.  
"Hey! That's cheating."  
"I was just the only one who thought of emptying my pack out under the 'bed' before Yuatyu had his way with them."  
"How many you got?"  
"About 30." She said lighting a lamp and then handed him the box of matches.  
"And that, Major, is why you're the resident genius." He said lighting the lamp on the other side of the room.  
Eight days later, after dancing around 'sensitive' topics, Sam and Jack couldn't come up with anything better to speak of than about how proud Daniel was going to be of them for their increasing knowledge of Ancient Egyptian- both had been actively quizzing their attendants on the language every morning during their baths.  
"Sun's gone again, feel like sleeping now and getting up early or staying up late and sleeping 'till the sun decides to show it's face again?"  
"I don't know Sir, last night we stayed up late and woke up early... so I think I'm pretty tired."  
"You sleep major, I think I'd better just finish this beer...er henket, wouldn't want it to go to waste."  
"Yeah." She said thankful she had an excuse to at least extinguish the lamp on her side of the room. Sam couldn't imagine letting the Colonel see her cry, and she knew that was exactly what was about to happen... yes she could sense the flood gates were opening up.  
Jack downed the rest of his drink and put out his lamp before using the small amount of light that was coming through the window to navigate to the side of Sam's 'bed'. He'd seen the same look on her face before, more than once, he'd seen it while they were in DC, and after she had shot Martouf, and of course when he'd turned away from her after she'd built the particle accelerator to bring his sorry ass back from Adorra. He still felt bad about that one, but he knew why he could see the 'look' now... because after over a week no one had come to rescue them, and in another day or so they'd both be dead.  
He pulled back the blanket Carter had pulled over her face and climbed onto the large padded area lying next to her.  
"Sir?"  
"Shhh Carter... we're going to get out of this." He pulled her body against his. "I know Daniel and Teal'c didn't just go home and forget us."  
"Are you trying to convince yourself of that Sir, or me?"  
"Both, I guess I'm just a little worried, what if there's a third 'gate on Earth and Danny and Teal'c got sent to some forest where they're sitting around eating worms?" She laughed against his chest.  
"Sir, I'm glad you're here. I don't want to imagine how things would be if they had decided one of /them/ would be the father of the god."  
"We'd have killed 'em right then and there for even suggesting it." Her tears had soaked right through his thin garments leaving moisture on his chest. O'Neill pulled the blanket up around them as the room temperature seemed to drop about ten degrees.  
"I want to go home Sir."   
"Me too Sam, me too." He said wrapping his arms firmly around her before closing his eyes and allowing sleep to over-take him.  
  
The next morning Sam awoke to the feeling of sunlight on her face and the Colonel's arms around her with his breath brushing her neck as he breathed in his sleep. She attempted to roll away and stand but ended up tripping on the padding and landed on O'Neill, jostling him from sleep.  
"Carter, you okay?"  
"Yeah Sir, sorry, I tripped."  
"No problem, I can't believe we slept all night."  
"I guess it's a good thing considering this is our last day..."  
"They aren't going to kill us Major, if the calvary doesn't show up then we're just going to have to improvise." She tried to accept this but in truth she knew there was no way for them to 'improvise' any further than they already had. Between the two of them they had already exhausted all possibilities of escape, any ideas they came up with is seemed Toran's people had already prevented somehow.  
The day, which both were sure would be their last, seemed to go very slow. They ate, then their attendants took them both to bathe, once reunited Cater pulled out the notebook she had from her pack and the two played hangman until mid-day when lunch was served, after lunch they decided to write letters to their family and friends at the SGC.  
"Well Daniel, Teal'c, and Janet are done." Sam said solemnly. "I really don't know what to say to Dad or General Hammond."  
"Did you write anything to your brother?"  
"No, I don't know what I'd really be able to say to him, it's not like they're ever going to end up reading these things anyway."  
"I thought about writing to my parents. But even if I were dead I don't think they'd want to hear from me."  
"Sir, I never knew you had parents, well I know at one time you must have."  
"Calm down Carter, they haven't spoken to me since Charlie's death."  
"That's terrible Sir."  
"I never told you, or Danny, or Teal'c for that matter, but about a year before Charlie died my brother died in a car crash. They lost a son and shortly after lost their only grandchild; I don't think they could past their grief... know I couldn't until after Abydos."  
"I'm sorry Sir, but shouldn't they have known you were grieving as well?"  
"Yes, they even moved in with Sara and me, but we all couldn't handle being that close together."  
"You should write to them, just so you can say whatever needs to get out, even if they're never going to read it, you should still do it."  
"Well at least it will help pass the time." Once they were both done they secured the letters together and wrote Earth's address on them in case some Good Samaritan, or Thalman decided to 'mail' them.  
"Sleep now, or later?" O'Neill asked once their food had been delivered.  
"Later, I want to enjoy myself tonight." She said pouring herself a tall glass of henket.  
"You do know there's not much alcohol in that stuff, right?"  
"Yeah, but I can dream can't I, I never thought it would end this way, me being killed because I refuse to have a child."  
"I never thought I'd refuse to uh... make a child." He didn't think he'd ever been happier to see a smile grace her face. They ate and drank for several hours until they ran out of food.  
"I don't think I've ever been more stuffed in my entire life."  
"I hope tomorrow isn't some sort of sacrificial barbeque for these people. I really don't want to end up the main course."  
"I think it's time for sleep Sir, I think we're both going to lose it if we don't."  
"Lost it already Carter, why don't you put out the lamps?"  
"Okay Sir." As the second flame was extinguished two arms snaked around her waist. "Sir?"  
"We're not going to die Sam, all we've gotta do is try, right?" He said breathing heavily as he leaned into her.  
"Right." She answered taking his hands as he turned her to face him.  
"You know I'm not just doing this so we'll live. You know how I feel about you, I've told you more than once, but if you would rather us not..." He left the sentence open; it wasn't as if she didn't know what he was talking about.  
"What about the regulations Sir?"  
"Screw the regs, besides, I think this is a little removed from what was in mind when they were created."  
"Well it's definitely one thing we hadn't considered.  
"So we're improvising." He said once more pulling her against him; he kissed her once, almost shyly before becoming bolder as his hands started exploring and caressing her through the thin garment she wore. "Think we could get this thing off?"  
"Uh huh." She murmured before pulling the dress over her head as he did the same with his.  
"Oh Sam," He said pulling them both onto the pad. "I never thought we'd get to this."  
"I'm sure we would have eventually done this without some sort of alien influence." She said before all coherant thought abandoned her as his mouth descended upon her breast. Once satisfied of her pleasure he moved back to her mouth as she ran her nail up and down his back before grabbing his butt and pushing it toward her begging him to enter.  
"Carter, did your attendants tell you about this little thing called merut?" He nearly hissed as he entered her.  
"No, what... does.... it... mean?"  
"Love... it means love, and even if we're not supposed to be doing this, I love you Sam." He covered her mouth once more with his as she came, clenching around him and pulling him over the edge with her "Well, that was more reschut than I've had... well ever." Jack said basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking. She giggled against his chest but he thought better of a sarcastic reprimand.  
"Was it true what you said about that merut stuff?"  
"Huh?"  
"Merut... did you really mean it?"  
"The fact that I love you? Of course I do, I would do anything not to lose you."  
"I love you too... Jack." They embraced each other tightly as they fell into an exhausted sleep as the sun started to rise.  
  
When Sam awoke again the sun was setting, causing golden shadows to play across the two naked, entwined bodies, one of which was her own. The other belonging to a man she had acknowledged having feelings for but had resigned herself to never being able to act on those feelings, the same man who had just managed to save both of their lives by going against everything they had both been taught to believe in... and it didn't bother her one bit.  
"Sammie," She smiled at his new use of her name. "Why are you looking around like that? You're not upset about last night are you?"  
"No, Jack, of course not, it's just that I shouldn't be as happy about it as I am."  
"God I love you Sam," He said seizing her mouth. "You know what?" he said minutes later as his hands traced lazy patterns along her back.  
"What?" She smiled up at him.  
"I'm starving, it's been almost an entire day since we ate."  
"It looks like Yuatyu left us something." She sat up and crawled the short distance to the tray. "There's some fruit and ta, there is also some sort of key."  
"Key?" He asked coming to a stop next to her.   
"Looks like it, we should probably try it on the door."  
"Yeah, probably." He stood and made his way across then room.  
"Uh Sir?"  
"Jack." He corrected.  
"Jack... you might want to put some clothes on first."  
"Oh yeah." He said sheepishly picking up his crumpled garment from the floor and pulling it over his head before tossing Sam's to her. Together they tried the key, the door popped open with a 'click'. They stepped out into the hall and immediately Yuatyu was upon them.  
"Ah, it's so nice that you have rested. Do you require anything?'  
"No, but what is this for?" He held up the key so the boy could see.  
"You now have full control over your room. Who may come and go."  
"How do you know we just won't leave?"  
"You may do that Sir, this home is yours also."  
"So we can just walk out right now?"  
"Well yes, you may go, but Major Carter has an inspection."  
"Inspection?"  
"To assure she will be producing a god."  
"Hey... wait a minute, all you said we had to do was try."  
"Yes."  
"It tends to take more than one try on our world."   
"You will be with child." He said confidently.  
"When is this inspection?"  
"In about an hour."  
"Come on Sam, let's go eat." He pulled her back to their room.  
"I'm gonna go check on the 'gate, things just don't seem right, they would never allow us to have a chance at escape." He embraced her tightly pressing kisses to the side of her head. "Don't let them get started without me, if I'm not back in time...stall." He said picking up a piece of fruit they had classified as 'banana-like' and heading toward the door.  
"If you can get home, go, okay?"  
"Not without you, and we still don't know what happened to Daniel and Teal'c." He picked up their letters that had been conveniently secured in a plastic bag before departing the house with his favorite attendant, Zoro, and a lamp.  
The village of Abadah was quiet, very unlike it had been the only other time O'Neill had been able to walk through it.  
"So Zoro, do you have a family?" He asked the man who appeared to be about his age with very dark hair and skin but striking crystal blue eyes.  
"Yes Jack, my wife is first servant to the mother of Maja'ra."  
"Any kids?"  
"Our daughters Sokj and Kotgut are also servants to your wife."  
"Carter's not my wife."  
"You have bonded with her, yes? You are now married Jack, you should delight in it."  
"All we had to do was have sex? If it was like that on my world just about everyone would be married... most to more than one person."  
"I do not know this word 'sex', perhaps you mean reschut?"  
"Yeah. That's basically it."  
"You do not wish to take more than one wife do you? It is prohibited by the gods."  
"No, Carter's great, couldn't imagine being with anybody else." Their conversation came to a halt when they arrived at the 'gate. "No wonder our people couldn't come back." The 'gate was lying down, buried almost completely under boulders and other assorted types of rubble. "Do you think we could move this stuff?"  
"No, it took 24 of our village's strongest men to do this, Toran said it must stay this way forever."  
"Yeah, well Toran's off his rocker." He commented bending down and putting the letters against the base of the DHD.  
"'Off his rocker'? I do not understand this."   
"It means he's crazy, looney, insane."  
"Ah yes, this insane I know, but it is not kind to refer to the soon past in negative terms."  
"Soon past?"  
"He will soon go to the resting place."  
"He's going to die?"  
"Yes, once Maja'ra's rebirth is ensured he will willingly destroy himself."  
"But isn't he like the high priest or something?"  
"The position of high priest or high priestess is only occupied when the rebirth of the companion god has not been ensured."  
"So you're saying Toran was Toran'ra before the kid was born?"  
"Yes, with the birth of his son Toran'ra became Toran giving his soul over to his son."  
"But I thought the god's offspring couldn't be gods."  
"Maja'ra and Toran'ra can not have children together... but either may produce a god... but it occurs very rarely."  
"So this guy is going to kill himself without ever seeing his kid grow up? What's his wife think of that?"  
"Sadly Toran'ra's mother died in childbirth."  
"So he's going to be an orphan? I can't believe Toran would leave his kid like that." He stated as they re-entered Abadah.  
"It is not a decision I would be able to make... but Toran'ra will not be alone, if your wife is indeed with child he will live with you and you will raise him as your own."  
"When were we going to be informed of this?" He asked entering 'his' house and embracing Sam before whispering, "We need to talk." Into her ear.  
"What's going on?"  
"We've got bigger problems than we thought." He took a sip from the henket and then a bite of ta. "The Stargate is buried. . . I mean really buried, took 24 guys and Toran's ordered it to never be uncovered."  
"So, we're stuck."  
"Yup, unless we can get all of our closest friends and neighbors to help us." They just started at each other for a while, both lost in their own thoughts.  
"Yuatyu wanted us to go straight to the meeting room when you arrived."  
"They're still convinced you're going to be pregnant?""Yeah, Holorgqu is so excited. She doesn't think that her oldest daughter Sokj will ever get married and have children."  
"And did she happen to mention to you that they don't exactly have weddings around here? Once you've done 'it' then you're as good as hitched."  
"No, we were talking about children... so that means we're married?"  
"Yup, sorry to ruin your social life, but you're stuck with me babe." He said putting his arm around her as they entered the room where Holorgqu and her two daughters stood silently, slightly away from Yuatyu along with another woman neither had seen before.  
"May I please introduce to you Hjerret, holiest designate of the gods." Yuatyu proudly left the room as the woman stepped forward taking charge.  
"You are Samantha, correct?"  
"Yes."  
"Please lay here and we will begin." What followed seemed no worse to Sam than her usual gynecological exams on base, Jack on the other hand found it incredibly distressing, he questioned everything the woman and her assistants did. "You are with child, the soul of Maja'ra lives in you."  
"But the egg wouldn't even have implanted it's self yet... how do you know?"  
"Because these are the instruments of the gods." She said spreading her arms to indicate the strange tools she had used on Sam.  
"Don't you have something uh... scientific to tell us?" Jack asked sarcastically. Hjerret ignored his remark and went about ordering Sokj and Kotgut around while their mother assisted Sam in redressing.  
"Bring Toran'ra and his belongings here. Inform Toran that Maja'ra's rebirth has been ensured."  
"So that's it, you say she's pregnant and we get an instant family?"  
"I really wish Janet was here." Sam breathed as Yuatyu entered bringing them more food. Hjerret took her leave into the darkness followed by Holorgqu once she had wished them well.  
"Do you really believe what she said? I mean it's impossible to know if you're pregnant the next day... right?"  
"On earth, but here I'm not so sure, they seem pretty confident in their methods and we've both seen how devoted Toran seems to be about 'ensuring the rebirth of Maja'ra', do you really think he'd kill himself if he wasn't positive?"  
"No, so what's our plan? Live out the rest of our lives on this quaint little planet with our two god-like children?"  
"I don't know Sir, you expect me to know what to do? I'm the one who was just told I'm pregnant- after just one night spent with my commanding officer. Oh and we're also now married and about to inherit a kid... I don't think my brain feels like processing this right now." She turned and went into 'their' room, locking the door behind her.  
"Oh come on Sam, I don't even have a couch to sleep on!" He complained before going to find that unfortunately he couldn't sleep in the other bedroom because Yuatyu was supervising the coordinated efforts of several different people who were moving Toran'ra's things in. The 'living-room' was his next choice and he found it conveniently dark and unoccupied. Jack settled himself down on a mass of pillows, images of the final months of his marriage to Sara flashing through his mind.  
"Married one day and she's already kicked me out of the bed." He murmured to himself as he began his long, cold night.  
Some time while it was still dark Jack awoke feeling very warm and contented, he looked at the golden head resting on his shoulder, Sam had wrapped herself around him, Jack put his arms tightly around her.  
"You awake?" She whispered.  
"Yeah."  
"I'm sorry... I never should have yelled or locked you out."  
"It's okay, things are just a little hard right now."  
"It's not okay, and that's what is so wrong, I don't think I could do this without you."  
"Well obviously you couldn't have done this alone." He said, his smile evident in his voice.  
"You know what I mean. I just feel like we've missed a few steps in this... we have barely admitted our feelings for each other and already we're married with one child and another on the way."  
"Well who knows... a little domestication could be interesting for both of us."  
  
Three months later...  
"Toran...come to Daddy...come on." Jack called to his six-month-old son. Toran'ra- who's name had been dropped of it's 'ra' while he was with his 'family' giggled and started to crawl collapsing before he made it beyond the tree they were sitting near.  
"Jack, we should probably get home, Yuatyu will have dinner out soon." Sam stated picking up Toran and allowing him to rest on the slight rounding of her stomach.  
"Fine... you know that guy is like what, seventeen? He really needs to get a life."  
"Yuatyu does have a life, if you'd pay any attention, he has been courting Sokj- your best-friend's daughter, since the rainy season."  
The 'rainy season' had begun about a month into their stay on Thalma, it was the time when Sam and Jack had both given up on any difference there had been between them and the people around them just in order to survive. Abadah had been completely flooded for almost a month, leaving everyone to join together; both outsiders had bonded with their community-working daily with them to ensure the survival of all. Once the floodwaters had receded and the rebuilding had begun Sam and Jack's place in the community hadn't changed, they were still tight and some how both had settled comfortably into their roles as Toran's mother and father.  
"Does Zoro know?"  
"Yeah Jack, I think he does considering it's all Holorgqu talks about... that and the baby."  
"So she's happy about it? The guy is so uptight."  
"It's a good move, he is first servant to the family of Maja'ra. And considering Sokj is the second servant to the mother of Maja'ra it will be accepted in society."  
"Is that all they care about?"  
"That and I hear that when he's not working he's got a great sense of humor." She pulled open the door allowing the scent of fresh food to escape. "Smells like dinner's ready" She handed Toran off to his awaiting attendant who carried him to his room where he would be fed by a 'wet-nurse'.  
"Ah, fresh ta...and other stuff."  
"I'm starving!" Sam sat on the pillows around the food.  
"You're pregnant, it happens." Jack stated sitting across from her and picking up his favorite banana-like food, which Zoro had informed him was called a soli.  
"I didn't know I would be gaining this much weight so soon. I feel like a blimp."  
"Well you definitely don't look like one, you look wonderful."  
"Thanks..." She continued eating various foods. "You still haven't told me what you did today."  
"Oh sorry... Toran must have distracted me. I followed a few of the men up into the thick forest beyond the 'gate, the one SG-1 went into when we first arrived? Well it is only used for hunting. I also found out that there's a trading port just beyond there that is on a river that is fed by this planet's very large ocean. Zoro said that we should be getting some traders soon; they never want to be around during our rainy season... seems we've got the worst of the entire planet."  
"Why can't I ever have any fun? Not that I don't enjoy spending the day with Toran but I'd like to get out and explore a little... the vegetation of here is so diverse I'd like to get a better look at the plants in those woods."  
"I'm sorry, when I left last night I didn't even think that you would be interested in going."  
"Well I probably shouldn't be going anywhere until the baby comes... but that's still another six months off." The rest of their food was consumed accompanied by their now customary banter about the advances Toran was making as well as his daily antics. Once they had finished Toran was brought back out to them, they played with him until he started showing signs of fatigue and then they told him a quick bed time story, more for their benefit than his, and soon he was left asleep in his room with his attendant.  
Once alone Sam and Jack discussed the state of the 'gate, and they had both arrived at the same conclusion... that despite torrential rains it was still too buried for them to uncover themselves. They continued on... doing what every one else in their village was doing everyday and night... the only difference was that once a month one both of them would go check the gate and make sure their letters were still secured to the base of the DHD.  
  
"Ma-ma." Toran walked into the room where Sam was laying.  
"Hi baby, what's that?" She asked as he handed her the small package he held in his hand.   
"Dada." He answered absentmindedly taking ta from Kotgut and sitting down next to his surrogate mother as she opened the package.  
"Ah look Kotgut, something for the baby." Sam held out the small, smoothed piece of wood.  
"What is it Ma'am?" Kotgut questioned confused by the strange looking object.  
"It is what is known as a baby bottle on Earth... Jack has made several little wooden toys like this, shaped like various children's items from home since he started working with the craftsmen."   
"There he is." So'vo sighed as he picked up Toran from his place on the floor. "I'm sorry, he got away from us in the raper some time ago." The raper- or shrine, was where Toran'ra had started spending a few hours of each day since his one-year birthday, which had occurred only a week earlier.  
"Well you might want to watch him better because he made it all the way to see Jack, and them come back here."  
"Sorry, it will not happen again." He scooped up the mess Toran had made with the bread and left.  
"Are you ready for Hjerret to check again?" Sam had been in labor for two hours and up to that point there had only been minimal pain and the first time Hjerret had come to check her she was barely dilated beyond normal; Jack had even gone two buildings down the 'road', at Sam's insistence, where he could continue his new favorite activity- woodworking.  
"Yes, please get Jack too, I'm bored." She smiled and once alone Sam began one of her constant activities- wondering what all of her friends and family were doing.  
Daniel and Teal'c she had no idea as to what they could possibly be involved, surely by now they had realized that the Thalma 'gate had been blocked, Teal'c had probably been re-assigned(hopefully not anywhere within Maybourne's reach) and Daniel was probably toiling away in his lab, working on the latest translation. General Hammond and Janet would still be doing their same jobs, of course they had probably gotten a bit less exciting considering there was no longer an SG-1 to get into trouble. Her father would still be doing his Tok'ra business with Selmak and her brother would still be continuing on with his normal life, probably not even aware that his sister had been gone for a little under a year.  
"Sammy? You okay?" Jack asked coming into the room to sit next to her, his hand resting on her enlarged stomach. She snapped out of her day-dream, Sam took in the look of her CO, he was sprinkled with wood shavings- a mass of which had taken up residence in his hair.  
"I'm fine, Maja still doesn't want to come out... I think she's already gotten her stubbornness from you."  
"Hey! You can be pretty stubborn yourself sometimes." He gave her a quick kiss before allowing her to speak again.  
"Toran brought me your gift for the baby, it is just as wonderful as the rest."  
"That kid can get into so much trouble, have you noticed he's the spitting image of Teal'c... just with hair?"  
"Yeah, makes it seem like home is a little bit closer, seeing little bits of our friends in these people. Like Zoro's eyes, they're just like Daniel's."  
"And Yuatyu is like Doc Frasier in his persistence." Sam laughed and then stopped a funny look crossing her face. "What? What's wrong?"  
"Baby has decided to join us I think."   
Eight hours later a blonde little girl came into the world, pleasing not only her parents and her brother(who was excited because everyone around him was) the entire village of Abadah celebrated for days while Sam, Jack, and Toran'ra just spent time getting to know the tiny sleeping angel who bore the name Maja'ra.  
  
Five Years Later... Earth...Welcome!  
"Any luck Teal'c?"  
"Daniel Jackson, we have been unsuccessful in our attempts." Teal'c answered over the phone line.  
"Well thanks for calling, it's good to talk to you, anything exciting going on around there?"  
"Not that I am able to tell you of. You only have clearance to know if our attempts have been successful or not."  
"Yeah I know, tell everyone there I said hi."  
"I will Daniel Jackson, if you will send Doctor and Cassandra Fraiser my greetings." They said their good-byes and then disconnected.  
"Negative again?" Janet Fraiser questioned coming into the room.  
"Yeah, dialing once every six months doesn't seem like much of a rescue operation, but considering how stingy the government is on funding I guess that we shouldn't push it by asking for more."  
"I was just about to have lunch with Cassandra, do you want to come?" She asked wrapping her arms around his waist.  
"No, but tell her I said hello... and Teal'c sends his greetings." Daniel had stayed with the SGC for three years after Sam and Jack had been stuck on L2J-409 before he decided it wasn't worth it anymore and quit to work at a university a couple of states away. Janet had left the SGC about three months ago when Cassandra had gone to college, the same university Daniel happened to be working at. Cassie decided that she wanted to live in a dorm so Janet had gotten an apartment so she could be there when her daughter needed her. Cassandra had hooked her mom back up with Daniel and neither had looked back except to think of Jack and Sam.  
  
One Week Later... Still on Earth...  
"Oh my God!" Janet exclaimed. "Daniel, come here... they got something from Sam and Jack!" Daniel entered the front room of the apartment joining Janet and the two Air Force officials already there.  
"What's going on?"  
"Yesterday a bag of letters came through the Stargate, from L2J-409. They were written by Sam and Jack on their 10th day on the planet... the day they were supposed to die." The last part she said quietly, the two men handed each of them two letters and then to Janet they handed a letter addressed to Cassandra in Sam's handwriting.  
"These two are for your daughter Cassandra, they have been read through and censored, and she may keep them. We must take both of your letters as General Hammond requested they remain private. All of the letters that have not been censored will be destroyed."  
"Why are we just getting these now... after five years?"  
"We have only been told to tell you that these arrived through the Stargate yesterday."  
"I'm going to call General Hammond." Janet said wiping tears out of her eyes after she finished Sam's letter. The letter had been very emotional, but also very withdrawn, Colonel O'Neill's had been the standard 'honor to serve with you' stuff. Daniel finished his own letters and following Janet's example handed them to the men still in the room with him, they left after wishing him their best. Janet was on the phone for what seemed an interminable amount of time before she joined Daniel, fresh tears staining her cheeks.  
"No one has gone through, supposedly they're under direct orders from the president not to go through and waste any more people."  
"What does he know! He wasn't even the president when they got trapped! Just a week ago even, they were trying to go through to L2J-409!"  
"It seems that Maybourne is still around causing trouble, and Senator Kinsey just got elected... again. The General said that despite how he felt the letters are still five years old and considering that they were marked with Earth's address and no communication other than them came through, there was no reason to expend the man-power for a reconnaissance.   
"I can't believe this!"  
"Let's go back to the SGC."  
"Are we allowed to do that?"  
"The General invited us." So they headed back to Colorado after giving Cassandra her letters. There was utter pandemonium when they arrived at the base... everyone, despite what the general had said, was hopeful, and their optimism made everything easier- if the SGC couldn't come to Sam and Jack, maybe Sam and Jack would come to the SGC.  
  
Back to Thalma...  
"Father, Maja tossed her ta into the water!" Toran told on his sister.  
"If she doesn't want to eat it then she can feed it to the icthes." Jack answered throwing his remaining bread overboard to the fish as well. The boat moved along in the water, gliding toward the distant land.  
Toran'ra and Maja'ra had been sent 'around the world' to let the other people greet their gods; needless to say their parents had gone with them. After one year, eight months of which had been spent at sea going in either direction, everyone was glad to be returning home.   
Maja came running along the deck of the boat with Sam trailing behind.  
"Father..." She caught her breath. "Mother said that Sokj will have had her baby by now!" The excited five-year-old exclaimed. "She said the child will be almost two seasons old!"  
"Where do babies come from Father?" Toran asked innocently. "I know the woman produces the child, but how does that come about?" Jack looked to Sam who only raised her eyebrows- Teal'c like, before giving a small giggle.  
"Well..." He stated. "When two people decide they want to spend their lives together they get married... and the rest I'll tell you about when you're a bit older."  
"Chicken!" Sam whispered as the children ran off to annoy Sov'vo who was attempting to write in one of his 'journals'.  
"Oh... another thing I miss about Earth! Chicken... and of course beef, but we've been mourning the loss of that for five years now."  
"Well Taki tastes similar to chicken." She offered.  
"But there's no Taki in Abadah."  
"Are you proposing that we move to the other side of the planet?"  
"No, of course not, our lives are in Abadah, but we should've brought a few Takis back with us." He mock pouted.   
"We're going home Jack... do you know what's there you love?"  
"No."  
"Soli." She whispered in his ear.  
"Ah soli! Almost makes up for no more Taki." He pulled her down next to him on the psuedo-bench he had made years before. "I can't wait to get home! It's hard to believe we've been gone an entire year, the kids treat it as if we just left last week. They had so much fun in Kalhia, but I'm pretty sure both of them are ready to be back. The people really bothered Toran when they bowed down to him, I think Maja is still too young to realize they're /worshipping/ her."   
"Toran told me that none of the other children would talk to him, he said that in Abadah he has friends, but in Kalhia they thought he wasn't normal...that he didn't /want/ to have fun."  
"He reminds me so much of Teal'c... more so every day, all he's going to need in a few years will be a gold emblem on his head and a Goa'uld in his stomach." Years before when they had begun living on Thalma many of their statements had began with 'when we get back to Earth' soon this had turned to 'if we get back to Earth' and eventually they had given up speaking of Earth in anything more than transitory phrases.  
"Every night he asks to hear tales of our 'Jaffa friend', Maja just likes hearing about what little Tau'ri girls do... and about the illustrious Cassandra Fraiser... I think it's escalated to an obsession."  
"You know Cassie's like 19 by now; probably wouldn't recognize her."  
"I miss Earth, we never talk about it any more."  
"That's probably because we don't want to think about all we're missing, and all our kids are missing."  
"They really love hearing about Earth, about their family and our friends there." She snuggled closer to him as the cold winter wind picked up. "You know, I think that telling stories helps everything seem a little closer." There was a long comfortable silence between them.  
"Hey Sam," She looked up at him, telling him that he had her attention. "Have you ever thought about us having any more kids?"  
"I have in an abstract way, I mean we've got two wonderful children, true we didn't actually produce one of them but he's ours, but whenever I think about how happy we all were when Maja was born and Toran had someone close to his age to play with... things were perfect until I lost the baby." She said her voice reflecting her sorrow at the thought. "Maja was too young to even understand that there had been a child there, but Toran, when I think of the look on his face when he saw all of the blood... I don't want any of us to have to go through that again."  
"I'm so sorry about that. "He whispered kissing the side of her head.  
"Hjerret said I probably I probably shouldn't even attempt to have another child, if we were on Earth Janet could... never mind, here we just have to use Hjerret's unscientific methods of birth control."  
"Sam I think they've pretty much been proven scientific, three years is a pretty good track record for something that is /unscientific/."  
"I'll talk to Hjerret when we get home, maybe she /can/ help us conceive again." They sat huddled together on the bench as the sun disappeared and the already much too short day ended. "Think we should go rescue Sov'vo?"  
"No, I think he took the kids below, either that or they're tied up somewhere."  
  
They docked early the next morning in a small tributary just outside of Abadah.  
"Mother, Father, come on! We're home!" Toran and Maja both had one of their parents by the hand as they drug them off the boat.  
"Calm down guys, we're going." The kids had hopped onto the shore, once joined by their parents they walked the short distance to Abadah.  
"Father, what's going on?" Toran asked, as he took in the unfamiliar look of the village he had lived in his entire life.  
"I don't know... Sam, any ideas?" He looked to his wife, noticing that she was carrying Maja.  
"It looks like a war-zone." She had to stop herself from adding Sir to the end of the phrase; she hadn't even had to think about anything like that since they had been 'married'. They reached their home; glad to be away from the eerie silence of the usually active village.  
"Hello? Yuatyu? We're home." They searched the house, finding it in shambles... to go along with the decorating scheme of the rest of the village. "Guess we should check the other houses for people."  
Most homes were abandoned, as if the people had just dropped everything and packed a few belongings before running away. When they reached Zoro and Holorgqu's home however they discovered several people communed there.  
"Welcome home. I trust your trip went well." Yuatyu greeted.  
"Uh, what's going on? All of Abadah is wrecked." A frown crossed Yuatyu's face.  
"We had hoped things would not have to be this way, several are dead, the raids have been occurring without warning over the last three seasons."  
"Who's doing this? Abadah is a peaceful village, we've got nothing anyone would want."  
"The Theocians from north want no possessions, they want only to destroy the gods."  
"They're just children!" Sam and Jack exclaimed in tandem.  
"They will return, we must save the gods." Holorgqu stood and took Maja from her fatigued mother's arms.  
"Where will we go? We can't go back out to sea, we have no supplies left and the Theocians will probably be able to follow us."  
"You will go through the Chapa'ai, back to your own people, they will be able to protect you." Zoro said, pulling Jack into a brotherly embrace. "We will miss you, but at least the gods will be safe."  
"Uh, last time I checked the 'gate was buried."  
"We have worked hard over the last two seasons, it was Sokj's idea. We sent your papers through so that your people would know you would be coming."  
"How long ago was that?"  
"Nearly a season, we didn't know you would be so long in Kalhia."  
"All right, lets go." Jack turned and headed out the door.  
"We'll need our GDO." Sam reminded, jogging his rusty recall of the SGC and the Iris.  
"Why don't you take the kids and let them get some of their things too, I'll go check the 'gate." They split up as the others came up from the boat; Sov'vo and Maja's servant Incaha checked and then accompanied their god. Sokj joined Sam in her search for the GDO in the mess that had once been her and Jack's bedroom.  
"Oh Sokj, I'm so sorry we haven't spoken to you." Sam noticed the weighted fabric around her neck. "Is that the baby?"  
"Yes." Sokj found the GDO under an overturned table. "Would you like to carry her?"  
"Yes." Sam took the baby and smiled down at the sleeping little girl as Sokj led the way to where the children were waiting. "What's her name Sokj?"  
"She is called Shelmeria, we should go, a raid can occur at any time."  
  
Jack couldn't believe it when he saw the Stargate, it really was unburied and standing upright- there was a good chance they might actually be going home!  
"Father! Look at Sokj's baby! Her name is Shelmeria." Maja stated, as energetic as ever, despite her somber surroundings.   
"Zoro," He turned to his good friend. "You're a Grandpa."  
"Yes, Sokj has made us very happy. Sam handed Shelmeria back and after checking the DHD she dialed Earth's address.  
"Come with us?" Jack asked Zoro and Holorgqu as a wormhole established. A loud horn blared suddenly, announcing an impending attack by the Theoicans.  
"No, I am sorry Jack, but I must help protect my people. Take Sokj and Yuatyu with you so that Shelmeria will be protected."  
"Father, we are needed here." Sokj protested.  
"No, we must go, our child deserves a chance at life." Sam sent the GDO signal through and after hugging everyone she picked up the bag of belongings she had been able to collect, she took Toran's hand as Jack took Maja's, the two children joined their hands completing the bond of the four, Sokj and Yuatyu stood behind them griping one another as they all took the plunge and walked through the gate.  
"Don't shoot!" Jack said once on the other side of the wormhole. The room was silent as the wormhole disengaged- everyone just stared cautiously at one another. The children had taken cover behind their parents, not able to understand this scary new place. Shelmeria wailed, jerking everyone back from their near comatose states. "Uh... hi?"  
"Somebody go get General Hammond!" An Airman yelled. Everyone lowered their weapons and Sokj finally managed to calm Shelmeria down and both Maja and Toran went back to their parent's sides as the seven people moved off the ramp and onto the solid concrete of the 'gate room floor.  
"Colonel O'Neill?" Hammond asked joining the silent crowed gathered around them.  
"Jack! Sam!" Daniel rushed in embracing the four people who stood closely huddled together, not realizing there had been two children involved until he let them all go and they smiled knowing immediately that this was the 'Daniel' from their parent's stories.  
"Hi Daniel, good to see you again."  
"Colonel, Major, why don't you and your friends go get checked out by Dr. Fraiser, I'm sure she'll be happy to see you." Daniel looked on as Sam and Jack each took one of the children's hands before nodding encouragement to Yuatyu and Sokj.  
Several people made their way to the infirmary, more and more joining the crowd as they walked through the corridors.  
"Sam! We have missed you so much!" Janet exclaimed, calming down once she had noticed the other people in the room. "Welcome back Colonel, um... who is everyone?"  
"Janet, these are our friends, Yuatyu and Sokj, and their daughter Shelmeria." Sam introduced. "And these are our children, Toran and Maja." Everyone's eyebrows shot up.  
Soon Janet had shooed everyone out of her infirmary that didn't belong there and then separated everyone into his or her own little alcoves, with the exception of the two children who were placed together.   
"Sam, is Maja yours?" Janet asked drawing blood from Sam's arm. "She looks just like you, but with the Colonel's essence."  
"Yes, she's ours." A big smile crossed her face reflectively. "As I'm sure Daniel has told everyone, we were going to die... and then we never thought we would ever get back here, Thalma became our home."  
"Where did Toran come from? From his size I'd say he is too old to have been born while you were on L2J-409."  
"We inherited Toran, his father had to kill himself... long story, and his mother had died in child-birth."  
"Well you certainly look good, that dress is so nice on you." Sam looked down at her winter dress, it wasn't' anything spectacular, rather plane actually when compared to her summer wardrobe.  
"Thanks Janet, you look pretty good yourself."  
"The last year has been really good for me. Cassandra's at college, I went with her. And until your letters came through neither Daniel or I worked at the SGC."  
"We've missed so much, and where are we going to live? The government did get rid of our houses right?"  
"Your apartment was boxed up and all of your stuff is in storage. The Colonel's house is being rented out, his stuff is in his attic." Janet helped Sam out of her dress as she began the physical examination. "So how are you? Any problems giving birth to Maja?"  
"I'm all right, Maja's birth was a dream, almost no pain and afterwards Jack, Toran and I cuddled up with her... it was wonderful. I did have a miscarriage about three years ago, after that Jack and I were told not to attempt to conceive again and I was put on a plant mixture with some other un-named substances as birth control... seems to be working, as Jack has stated-three years is a good track record."  
"I'll schedule you an appointment with an OB/GYN, okay... just to make sure everything's all right there."  
"Thanks Janet, it's really great to be able to talk to you again." Janet moved out of Sam's curtain and she donned the lovely blue standard garments she had worn so many times before. After that she snuck out and made a beeline for where she had seen them lead Jack.   
"Jack?" She found him lying on the bed staring up at the ceiling.  
"Hey Sammy, you're done already? I swear Doc is purposefully saving me for last... so she'll have longer to torture me." He sat up and pulled her down beside him. "You look normal."  
"Normal?"  
"Like we never left here... your hair is the same thanks to those lovely people in Kalhia... and well the clothes certainly are different from what I'm used to." He kissed her, missing the bodily contact her Thalman clothing allowed. "But when you used to wear this I couldn't get this close to you." He kissed her again, pulling her body as close to his as he could manage.  
"Um...guys," Daniel interrupted awkwardly, "I was sent by General Hammond to tell you that Sam's dad just sent communication that he's on his way here."  
"Ya know what Danny, your timing still sucks." Daniel just stood staring at him. "What? I'm married to her for cryin' out loud."  
"Thanks Daniel... um... where is Teal'c?" Daniel looked at Sam as if she had spawned a second head, as if he hadn't even noticed the big Jaffa was missing. "He's on his way... after Drey'ac died about four years ago Rya'c moved here to be with Teal'c... now Rya'c is attending college and Teal'c bought a house between the here and the University... it takes him a while to get here."   
"Oh." She said before a loud scream penetrated their little corner.  
"Mother! Father!" Toran's voice called out as Sam and Jack made record speed out from behind the curtain... leaving Daniel to wonder what was going on as he came out a little slower.  
"Toran... what's wrong?" They asked the distressed child who was running toward them from the other end of the infirmary.  
"They... they stuck something in Maja... and took out her blood! They were going to do the same thing to me!" The tall boy looked awkward in the middle of both of his parents embrace.  
"It's okay honey... they need to do that. If you want we'll come sit with you while they do it." Sam said taking his hand and pushing him toward where Janet was standing watching her friends naturally act as parents.  
"I'm sorry guys... it never occurred to us that they have probably never had their blood drawn before."  
"It never occurred to us either."   
  
"Father, look what they did." Maja had tears in her eyes as she held out her arm to display the band-aid that had been placed on it.  
"Wow, you're really brave, I used to cry like a baby when Dr. Fraiser would do that to me." He sat next her and she crawled up into his lap.  
Both Janet and Sam turned to glare at him; he merely gave them a 'what?' expression.  
"Mother, did father really cry?" Maja asked amazed.  
"Oh yeah, and he whined about /everything/."  
"Hey!"  
"Is Cassandra here?" Maja ignored her father's indignant protest.  
"She's in town, but I haven't really seen much of her." Janet answered as she finished with Toran. "Your turn Colonel."  
"Oh Doc, come on." He whined. Both children laughed as their father was dragged back to the other end of the infirmary.  
  
Teal'c arrived soon after Colonel O'Neill had finished his physical and had donned the clothing that had been provided to replace his oh-so-very-fashionable Thalman garb. Jack and Sam came out to find Toran quizzing Teal'c, Maja happily playing with Shelmeria, and Sokj and Yuatyu deeply involved in conversation with Daniel.  
"O'Neill my brother, you look well... Your children are very well behaved." They exchanged a brotherly hug before Teal'c moved on to Sam. "Your children have your beauty and intelligence." He complimented.  
"Hey!" O'Neill yelped.  
"O'Neill you should be pleased."   
"Well I am... but, oh I don't know."  
"Toran'ra has stated his intentions of becoming a warrior, as his father and mother are."   
"Uh, we kinda dropped the 'ra'."  
"Ra is our..." Toran searched his vocabulary he for a word he had only heard a couple of times. "Our middle name."  
"Mother, I'm hungry." Maja stated out of nowhere.  
"Janet, are we done here?"  
"Yes, you guys are free to roam around the base and of course to eat in the commissary, I don't know where the General will want you to sleep, you'll have to check with him on that one." The group moved out, headed for the commissary, and soon five aliens and two long time gone humans were served hamburgers.  
"Oh I've missed this so much." Jack said, stuffing not-so-French fries into his mouth.  
"Father, what is this?" Toran imitated his parent's holding of his hamburger.  
"That is one of the best foods on Earth, it's called a hamburger and it is often served with French fries." Toran had a look on his face that was identical to one of Teal'c's early looks of confusion.  
"Diet Coke!" Sam squealed as Daniel, Janet, and Teal'c arrived bringing drinks for everyone. Sokj and Yuatyu attempted to look like they knew what and how to eat, but in the end Sam and Jack had to show them exactly how to hold the bun to keep the meat from falling out, Shelmeria just sucked on a French fry.   
"So why did you send just your letters and then waited a month to come through yourselves?" Daniel asked smiling at Maja as she oddly chewed a fry.  
"Well you see Danny, we didn't actually send the letters, we've been at sea for the last four months, and we just got home this morning."  
"So why was the 'gate unburied?"  
"The Theocians want to kill my sister and me." Toran stated, all side conversation ceased, everyone turning to look at the six year-old.  
"Toran, it's not you they want to kill, it's the deity Toran'ra, remember our discussion about the difference?"   
"Yes mother, Daniel Jackson asked."  
"The Theocians of the North do not believe in our gods and want to remove all traces of our religion from Thalma." Yuatyu explained.  
"Full." Maja announced, oblivious of the serious conversation going on around her. "Can I go to bed now?"  
"Just a minute honey." Sam said instinctively.  
"You all do look pretty tired, we can continue this discussion later."  
  
Sokj and Yuatyu were led to their quarters first, and after being thoroughly assured of Sam and Jack's location they were left alone.  
"I'm beat, it been a /long/ day." Jack said lying down in bed and pulling Sam against him.  
"Tomorrow there's going to be a lot of questions, how are we going to answer them?"  
"I guess we just tell the truth and hope they've missed us enough to over look the regs in our situation, I mean it's not like we can get rid of the family we've already got."  
"Mother, Father, we're trying to sleep." Toran scolded from across the room.  
"Sorry guys, we'll be quiet." They laughed before quickly falling soundly asleep.  
"Sammy, wake up Sam."  
"Huh?" She asked coming groggily awake.  
"Welcome home Sam."  
"Dad?" She tried sitting up but found herself trapped under the weight of Jack's arms.  
"Sam? What's going on?" Jack asked waking at her struggle.  
"Dad's here."  
"Dad? Oh, hi Jacob." He released Sam and once she had exchanged hugs with her father the embarrassment of her father finding her in bed with her CO set in.  
"We've missed you Samantha, your brother has also been quite worried as well, the Tok'ra we sorry to discover that we had no ships within a reasonable range." Selmak had taken over.  
"Who is that?" Maja asked through the semi-darkness.  
"Your Grandfather honey, remember he shares his body with a Tok'ra?"  
"Oh yes Mother, I remember, their name is very much like ours."  
"Who is this?"  
"Our daughter Maja, and the sleeping on is our son Toran." Jack stated putting an arm around Sam's waist as Jacob stood appraising his grandchildren.  
"Five years is a long time." Jacob patted Jack on the arm in a fatherly manner. "I'd assume you've been good to my daughter so far or she would have kicked your ass, but if you ever decide to hurt her I'll be there right along with her kicking your butt."  
"Yes Sir."  
"Now, let's go convince old George of the fact that all life in the SGC came to a halt five years ago and that if we're ever going to bring down the System Lords we need both of you back in your positions on SG-1."  
Maja and Toran safely with Sokj, Yuatyu and Shelmeria; Sam, Jack, and Jacob soon joined Teal'c, Daniel, and Janet in the briefing room with General Hammond, he was as easily convinced as everyone else had been that Sam and Jack not only belonged at the SGC but also that they belonged together, a fact that everyone claimed to have known long before they had been forced to confront their feelings on L2J-409.  
THE END!!! SEND FEEDBACK!!  
  
  
  



End file.
